The Story Behind Nutrionics™

It started with the word: “Nutrion™”

The word “Nutrion™” popped up in our founder’s (Brian Yeakey) mind in 2015 during a meditation session. 

Of course, it didn’t mean anything to him back then. 

Still, he thought it sounded interesting. So he wrote it down in his journal and figured he’d come back to it. 

Fast-forward 9 years, and Brian, in his late 50s and after having undergone a couple of shoulder surgeries and three back surgeries since 2010, was beginning to look for ways to support himself in his exercise routine so he didn’t feel so easily tired or drained. 

Eventually, he found a winning formula — a combination of hydration mixes, mineral formulas, and molecular hydrogen. 

But there was a problem. 

The lack of a convenient, all-in-one product. And in the proper balances.

Most hydration mixes on the market offer only a handful of minerals essential to health. Playing “mix-and-match” between the different hydration mixes to get the right ratios and concentrations proved impossible. Also, nothing on the market paired molecular H₂ with essential minerals.  

He thought, “There must be a better way.” His mind went back to that serendipitous word in his journal: Nutrion™. And everything just clicked into place. 

Nutrions™ are ionically charged nutrients. 

He took this as a clear sign to create a cutting-edge nutritional supplements company that goes beyond conventional products.

Today, that company is named “Nutrionics™” — the synergistic blend of Nutrion™ and the suffix “-ics”, which comes from “ionics” to emphasize our focus on ionic charges. 

Why ionically charged nutrients? Because of bioavailability

In a broad sense, most of us know 2 things:

1. Minerals are good for us
   
   
2. We can get minerals from foods (because all minerals come from soil, whether directly from plants or indirectly from animals that eat plants

But here’s something less commonly discussed. Many of the minerals naturally found in food are unavailable for absorption. Or, in other words, they’re poorly bioavailable. 

For those unfamiliar with the concept, a mineral's bioavailability is defined as the percentage of the ingested nutrient that is absorbed and subsequently used for normal physiological functions. 

Examples of minerals with low bioavailability include zinc (10% to 50%) and iron (< 1% to 30%). 

Understanding minerals’ poor bioavailability

“Wait,” you may wonder, “Why are minerals so poorly bioavailable?” There are several reasons.

Minerals occur as mineral complexes

They’re bound to other substances. 

For example, the forms of magnesium in foods include magnesium citrate, magnesium malate, and phytin. 

For absorption to occur, your body must “liberate” those minerals from their complexes to get them in their ionic forms (e.g., magnesium is Mg²⁺). And it’s not always an easy process. 

Now, to sort of backstep a little, at this point, we’ve already covered a fair bit about “ionically charged nutrients” (or Nutrions™ *wink*), but what are ions in the first place? 

Ions are atoms or molecules that have gained or lost one or more of their electrons, giving them a net positive or negative electrical charge:

• Cations: Ions that carry a net positive charge 

• Anions: Ions that carry a net negative charge 

If you’ve begun to sweat from all the chemistry terms, don’t worry — you don’t actually have to know all these. All you need to remember is that your body can only absorb and use minerals in their ionic forms. I.e., when they carry either a positive or negative charge. 

“Energy status”

That said, before your body can “access” the above-mentioned mineral complexes, it’ll need to break down whole foods. 

And that requires an adequate amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), or, in simpler terms, energy. 

Digestion isn’t the only energy-intensive process your body has to go through. 

The uptake of ionically charged minerals is, too. Example: cells work hard using a sodium-potassium ATPase pump to maintain the right potassium concentration in cells. The ATP in the name of this pump indicates that it requires energy. 

Fun fact: it has been estimated that about 30% of the energy used in the body at rest is used to maintain the activity of sodium-potassium pumps in cell membranes!

What does this all mean? Your body can’t “receive” the minerals you’re eating if it’s low in energy — even if you’re technically getting the “right amounts”. 

Complex interplay between minerals and other dietary factors

Large doses of minerals can compete with each other to be absorbed. For example, the dietary availability and absorption of:

• Iron: Usually depressed by high dietary intakes of phosphate, calcium, copper, and zinc

• Zinc: Reduced in the presence of high dietary intakes of calcium, phosphorus, and copper
  
  
• Copper: Reduced in the presence of high dietary intakes of zinc, iron, inorganic sulfates, and calcium carbonate

The source of a mineral — whether it comes from a plant or an animal — could also affect its bioavailability. Both phytates (occurring in grains and beans) and oxalates (found in vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains) bind to minerals, preventing their absorption.

Ionically charged nutrients make it easier to hit the right concentrations and ratios

Because of these reasons, many Americans are not meeting their mineral intake requirements despite adherence to a healthy eating pattern. According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the US population is under consuming:

• Calcium
• Potassium
• Iron
• Magnesium 

And therein lies the game-changing (and arguably life-changing) nature of delivering Nutrions™ to the body. 

The minerals are already in their ionic forms. They’re ready to be absorbed as-is. 

This cuts down on your body’s ATP requirements significantly and gives you complete control over how much minerals you’re taking, so you can be sure you’re achieving a truly balanced mineral nutrition, where nothing’s impeding another’s digestion, absorption, or utilization. 

It’s beautiful. Not to mention, great for your health. 

Meet the essential minerals 

But how? How exactly would having the right amounts of Nutrions™ benefit your health? Well, to understand that, we’ll need to look at the role each ionic mineral plays in the body. 

Minerals in nutrition fall into 2 categories. 

Major minerals, also known as macro minerals, are needed in greater amounts in the diet and, naturally, are found in greater amounts in the body. Trace minerals are needed in smaller amounts in the diet and are found in lesser amounts in the body. 

Here’s how many grams of major and trace minerals you’d typically find in a 70 kg human body:

Mineral	Chemical symbol	Weight
Major minerals
Calcium	Ca	1,000 g
Phosphorus	P	780 g
Potassium	K	140 g
Sulfur	S	140 g
Sodium	Na	100 g
Chloride	Cl	95 g
Magnesium	Mg	19 g
Trace minerals
Iron	Fe	4,200 mg
Zinc	Zn	2,300 mg
Copper	Cu	72 mg
Iodine	I	20 mg
Selenium	Se	15 mg
Chromium	Cr	14 mg
Manganese	Mn	12 mg

Nutrions™ benefits 

Macro mineral	Ionic form(s) in the body	Ion benefits
Calcium	Ca2+	Needed by bones and teeth for strength Enables muscle contraction Helps blood vessels relax and constrict Needed for nerve impulse transmission Used in the secretion of hormones Needed by a number of proteins and enzymes Supports healthy blood clotting
Phosphorus	P3-, PO33- and  PO43-	Contributes to the strength of bones Found in cell membranes, which control the transport of nutrients in and out of the cell Forms the backbone of DNA Needed in energy transfer Helps maintain acid-base balance
Potassium	K+	Helps maintain the cell membrane potential Needed for energy production  Used as an acid buffer to maintain acid-base balance
Sulfur	S2-	Important for producing glutathione, an antioxidant that helps fight free radicals Part of coenzyme A, a critical factor in fatty acid metabolism Part of the methyl donor SAMe, another antioxidant
Sodium	Na+	Helps maintain blood pressure and fluid balance Assists muscle contraction and nerve impulse transmission
Chloride	Cl-	Helps maintain blood pressure and fluid balance
Magnesium	Mg2+	Contributes to strong bones Works with calcium to coordinate muscle contraction and relaxation Required for energy production

Trace minerals 

Trace mineral	Ionic form(s) in the body	Ion benefits
Iron	Fe2+ and  Fe3+	Found in hemoglobin and myoglobin, proteins that transport and store oxygen  Needed for the synthesis of DNA Required by enzymes involved in collagen, neurotransmitters, and hormone production Important to energy production in the cell Necessary for the growth of certain immune cells
Zinc	Zn2+	Plays important roles in growth and development, neurological function, the immune system, and in reproduction  Assists cell signaling, influencing hormone release and nerve impulse transmission
Copper	Cu2+	Contributes to energy production  Required for strong and flexible connective tissue  Assists in iron transport for red blood cell formation Involved in the conversion of important neurotransmitters
Iodine	I-	Important for healthy thyroid functions, regulating the metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates
Selenium	Se2-	Part of an important antioxidant, glutathione Used in conjunction with iodine to control metabolism
Chromium	Cr3+	Assists in blood sugar regulation
Manganese	Mn2+	Assists in glucose production when carbohydrates are not available  Helps in ammonia detoxification  Participates in the formation of healthy bones and cartilage

Ionically charged nutrients also power the body

Electrical signals control our every movement, perception, and thought. 

Of course, this is not the kind of electricity you’d find in a battery, or that powers a lightbulb. Instead, the human body runs on “bioelectricity” — currents created by the movements of mostly positively charged ions (Nutrions™) like potassium, sodium, and calcium. 

These bioelectrical signals are responsible for all communication between the brain and the nervous system; you can think of them as the telephone wires that help your brain’s command center communicate with your … well, everything. 

Learn more about bioelectricity and the role Nutrions™ play in governing nearly all crucial bodily functions here.  

The Nutrionics™ difference

We’re serious about helping you get the most out of your supplements. 

That’s why we formulate our products with truly health-beneficial ingredients and highly bioavailable Nutrions™ (refresher: ionically charged nutrients!).

Starting with our first product, Nutrionic™ H₂ Energizer 

Nutrionic™ H₂ Energizer tablets are formulated with the perfect blend of magnesium, malic acid, and tartaric acid.

Dropping them into water kickstarts a series of chemical reactions that’ll eventually yield freely available Mg²⁺ ions and hydrogen water:

• Magnesium reacts with water to form molecular hydrogen and magnesium hydroxide, which then 

• Reacts with malic acid and/or tartaric acid to form magnesium malate and/or magnesium tartrate (these will react with your stomach acid or hydrochloric acid, freeing those precious Mg²⁺ ions)

“OK,” you may be thinking, “The benefits of freely available Mg²⁺ ions are obvious enough, but why should I care about the hydrogen water bit of it?” 

Here’s the short and sweet version:

Molecular hydrogen acts as an antioxidant and supports optimal energy production right where it matters (i.e., at the mitochondrial level). Absorbing Nutrions™ still requires energy — remember how over 30% of your body’s energy expenditure during rest is spent on pumping potassium into cells? 

In other words: molecular hydrogen helps your body get the energy it needs to maintain a healthy balance of minerals. 

Beyond that, hydrogen water has also been linked to many whole-body benefits, including supporting healthy blood glucose levels, exercise performance, and brain function.  

By the way, for a full, deep dive into why molecular hydrogen is beneficial to the body, check out this article.

In the meantime, here’s what you can expect from every Nutrionic™ H₂ Energizer tablet:

• 80 mg of unbound, bioavailable magnesium ions 

• Up to 10 ppm of molecular hydrogen per cup of water (such a high concentration is only made possible with the unique nanobubble technology)

Other winning characteristics of our Nutrionic™ H₂ Energizer tablets include:

• Delivers additional health-beneficial bioactives, such as malic acid (involved in energy production) and tartaric acid (a naturally occurring antioxidant, E334, found in a wide diversity of plants)

• ISHA-certified, which is a testament to the efficacy, purity, and safety of our tablets 

• Obtained the New Ingredient Dietary Status with the FDA

• Manufactured in a cGMP facility in the United States 

Shop our Nutrionic™ H₂ Energizer tablets here. 

What’s next?

So … you might have noticed that our Nutrionic™ Energizer tablets aren’t exactly a convenient, “all-in-one” nutritional supplement that offers you all the Nutrions™ your body needs (and in the right concentrations). 

But here’s the thing. 

It’s already much, much better than many of the other products available on the market (highly bioavailable magnesium ions and molecular hydrogen; that’s exciting!) 

Plus, we’re just getting started and actively working on R&D for upcoming formulations that’ll deliver the right ratios of Nutrions™ alongside other innovative health-beneficial ingredients. 

There’s so much more coming on the horizon. 

We hope you’ll join us on this very, very exciting journey as we continue to build Nutrionics™.

References

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/7EA9159BBA14A4F571CEED5C83BE0270/S0954422496000170a.pdf/div-class-title-bioavailability-of-minerals-and-trace-elements-div.pdf

https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/micronutrient-inadequacies/overview

https://nutrionics.com/pages/scientific-study